Struggling Braves in an unfamiliar position -- second

PAUL NEWBERRYAssociated Press

Published Tuesday, August 14, 2001

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves never have fretted much about making the playoffs. They usually save their failures for the postseason.

These days, however, the Braves can't help but wonder if they'll even be playing come October -- especially with the burden of a punchless offense that has trouble reaching second base, much less getting all the way home.

''I think you could say we're worried,'' Chipper Jones said after the Braves lost their fifth in a row -- all at home -- to fall out of first in the NL East. ''You don't go through spells like we have gone through and not get worried.''

Atlanta, one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies, was mired in its longest losing streak since 1999 as it set off on a six-game trip to Colorado and San Francisco.

Maybe a stop at Coors Field will help. Certainly, things can't get much worse than the past week at Turner Field, where the Braves scored only eight runs in their five losses.

''We stink, we stunk, all the tenses,'' Jones said.

The Arizona series was particularly dismal, with the Diamondbacks outscoring the Braves 19-2. If that wasn't bad enough, Greg Maddux actually walked someone for the first time in almost two months in a 9-1 loss Sunday.

''The timing was right,'' said Arizona's Luis Gonzalez, his team back in first in the West. ''We came in when they were not playing well.''

In reality, the Braves have scuffled around most of the season. They're on pace to win just 89 games, which would be the lowest in a completed season since 1990 -- the last year Atlanta failed to make the playoffs.

Even if the Braves qualify, they've done little to indicate they'll get past the first round. Atlanta is 64-53 overall but just 28-30 against teams with winning records.

General manager John Schuerholz has always focused on pitching and defense, a formula that works over the 162-game regular season. Most playoff teams, however, can match up with Atlanta in those areas, a major reason the Braves have just one World Series title to accompany a record nine straight postseason appearances.

Once again, Atlanta has the best ERA (3.65) in baseball, with Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Burkett heading the rotation and John Smoltz bolstering the bullpen. There are a few leaks in the defense even with a trade-deadline deal for Rey Sanchez, one of the best-fielding shortstops in the game. The right side is particularly vulnerable, with rookie Marcus Giles at second base and Ken Caminiti struggling to cope with a move to first.

But those are minor concerns compared to the offense, which Schuerholz failed to address before the trade deadline, while teams such as the Cubs (Fred McGriff) and Giants (Andres Galarraga) were beefing up.

On Sunday, manager Bobby Cox came up with a lineup that would have played better in Richmond.

Journeymen Keith Lockhart and Dave Martinez were at the top of the order, slumping Andruw Jones occupied the No. 5 spot and longtime minor-leaguers Wes Helms and Mark DeRosa brought up the rear, sandwiched around .179-hitting catcher Paul Bako.

With only Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan to worry about, Arizona's Albie Lopez cruised through seven shutout innings -- his first win since allowing only one run to the Braves in a mid-July start for Tampa Bay.

Against everyone else this season, Lopez is 4-15 with a 5.69 ERA.

''Everybody feels the frustration,'' said Chipper Jones, one of the few bright spots with a .321 average, 30 homers and 78 RBIs. ''The lack of hitting is contagious.''

The Braves have known since the offseason that scoring runs was a potential problem. Galarraga (.302, 28 homers, 100 RBIs last season) was let go at first, replaced by Rico Brogna in a cost-cutting move.

That trade-off failed miserably. Brogna was released last month and the Braves picked up the 38-year-old Caminiti after his release by Texas.

Caminiti hasn't made much impact with the bat (.270, six homers, 11 RBIs in 29 games) and has been shaky on defense. A Gold Glover at third, he's made five errors at his new position already.

The other Jones, Andruw, has been a huge disappointment after winning a record $8.2 million in arbitration during spring training. He looks lost at the plate, standing deep in the box and flailing hopelessly at pitches down and away.

Jones has slumped to .255 with 95 strikeouts, just five short of his total for all of last season when he batted .302 with 36 homers and 104 RBIs. In addition, catcher Javy Perez is on pace (.250, 12 HRs, 45 RBIs) for his worst season since 1994.

The Braves were hoping to compensate for a power shortage by running more, only to lose Rafael Furcal (40 steals last season) with a shoulder injury. Quilvio Veras (25 steals in 2000) was released a few weeks ago after the team tired of his constant aches and pains.

Maybe the Braves can follow the path of the 1906 Chicago White Sox, who managed to win the World Series with a team known as the ''Hitless Wonders.''

Of course, those guys didn't have the lively ball, weight training or parks such as Coors Field.

''Maybe all that open air and open spaces,'' Cox said, looking ahead to Denver, ''will get the lumber going.''